Door catches



Mai-ch 25, 1958 I G. R. E. WEAVER DOOR CATCI-IESI Filed Nov. 21, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

k Inventor M r/aw 5 2mm Wzuer" B Attorney Mgrch 25, 1958 e. R. E. WEAVER DOOR CATCHES Filed Nov. 21, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor United States Patent DOOR' CATCHES Application November 21, 19 55, Serial-No.- 548,194

Claims priority, application Great Britain November 19, 1954 6 Claims. '(Cl. 292-78) This inv'entionrelates to latches and'in particular to latches or catches which may be fitted to a door or to a door frame to cooperate with a' conventional strike plate upon the o'ppositemember, to retain the door in a' closed position, but to allow it to be opened by pushing or pulling 'as appropriate.

It is an object of the invention to provide a'latch of this kind which is simple in construction and cheap to produce, and which will function efiiciently without having to be fitted with a high degree of accuracy.

'It is a further object of the invention 'to provide a latch which will enable adoor to be closed gently by pushing or'pulling without having'to be slammed and which will allow the door to be opened or closed silently.

It is a still further-object 'of'the invention to provide a latch which will prevent a door rattling when closed and which will eliminate the possibility of the door becoming jammed.

According to the invention there is provided a latch comprising a housing having an open side, a pair of levers, pivotal means for said levers to support them for independent pivotal movement about a vertical axis in a manner such that in a first position thereof at least one face extends substantially normally from the open side of said housing and in a second position thereof said lever is totally within said housing, first resilient means engaging each ofsaid levers to tend to separate them to a degree such that when one is in said first position the other is in said second position, and second resilient means engaging one of said levers and said housing to tend to maintain one of said levers preferentially in said first position.

Further features and objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: s

Figure 1 is an exploded view showing the parts of a door latch according to the invention.

Figures 2, 3 and 4 are horizontal sections showing the latch in its normal, partly closed and closed positions respectively, and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a quarter-spherical lever which may be used in place of the quarter-cylindrical levers shown in Figures 1 through 4.

The latch housing 1 is of box form and has one open side.

It is constructed to be countersunk into the edge of a door or else into the door frame. The open side may be defined by a fixing plate 2 drilled to receive countersunk fixing screws at 3. Holes 4 and 5 serve to receive a split pin6 or a bolt or rivet or the like to serve as a pivot for the levers. The housing will normally be a metal pressing or casting, but may be made in any other manner of any suitable material desired.

A pair of levers 7 and 8 are of generally quarter-cylindrical form. The faces of the levers which in the assembled latch are adjacent are slotted at 9 and 11 to leave lands 12 and 13. The lands are vertically drilled at 14 to provide apertures about which the levers may pivot, the apertures being provided parallel to the axial corners 15 of the levers and adjacent said axial corners. The lands 12 and 13 are noncoincident when the levers are assembled in the latch and the central groove in each lever is preferably sufficiently wide to leave a groove between the levers when the latch is assembled.

In thisgroove the springs 16 and 17 may rest. The spring 16 is a coil spring which is disposed about the pivot 6 and which has a pair of arms 18 and 19, which bear against the adjacent faces of the levers 7 and 8 to retain these faces normally at an angle to one another of about The spring 17 lies against the same face of the lever 7 as the arm 18, passes around the coiled portion of the spring 16 and engages a lug 20 within the housing (Figure 2). The lever 7 is thereby maintained with its face 21 substantially normal to the plate 2.

When the lever 7 is in this position (Figure 2) the face 22 of the lever 8 lies substantially in the plane of the, plate 2. This is the normal position of the latch in the door open position.

As the door is closed the face 21 contacts the striker plate 23 upon the door frame and the lever 7 is pushed into the housing. This tends to cause the lever 8 to emerge from the housing but in the partly closed position shown in Figure 3 this is not possible since both levers are in contact with the striker plate 23.

When the door reaches the fully closed position, however (as shown in Figure 4), the lever 8 becomes free to emerge from the housing to enter the latch recess 24. The door is thereby held in the closed position.

The sequence upon opening the door is exactly the reverse of that set forth above.

If the latch or the striker plate should not be accurately fitted the latch will still function providing that the striker plate is within reach of the levers. If for example the latch recess 24 is located in a position such that the lever 8 cannot freely enter the recess then the face 22 of that lever will bear against the corner 25 of the latch recess and maintain the door closed.

In Figure 5 there is shown a perspective of a lever of quarter-spherical shape which may be used in place of the quarter-cylindrical levers described above. Like parts of this lever are similarly numbered and it may be substituted for quarter-cylindrical levers of the same size without alteration of the other parts of the latch. If desired however a hemi-spherical or cylindrical housing may be used to accommodate quarter-spherical levers.

It will be appreciated that many other variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set out in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A latch comprising a housing having an open side,

a pair of levers, pivotal means within said housing, each' of said levers being independently pivotally mounted on said pivotal means and being alternately capable of taking up a position in which one is substantially contained within said housing and the other is capable of taking up an opposed position in which it projects from said housing, and resilient means engaging said levers and tending to retain them in opposed positions.

2. A latch comprising a housing having an open side, a pair of levers, pivotal means Within said housing each of said levers being of substantially quarter-cylindrical form, being independently pivotally mounted on said pivotal means about its cylinder axis and being alternately capable of taking up a position in which one is substantially contained within said housing and the other is capable of taking up an opposed position in which it projects from said housing, and resilient means engaging said levers and'tending to retain them inopposed positions.

3. A latch comprising a housing having an open side, a pair of levers, a pivot within said housing, each of said levers being of substantially quarter-cylindrical form, being independently pivotally mounted on said pivot about its cylinder axis and being alternately capable of taking up a-position in which one is substantially con tainedwithin said housing and the other is capable of taking up an opposed position in which it projects from said housing, and resilient means comprising a helical spring disposed around a part of said pivot, spaced parts of said spring engaging said levers and tending to retain them in opposed positions.

4. A latch comprising a housing having an open side, a pair of levers, a pivot Within said housing, each of said levers being of substantially quarter-cylindrical form,

being independently pivotally mounted on said pivot about its cylinder axis and being alternately capable of taking up a position in which one is substantially contained within said housing and the other is capable of taking up an opposed position in which it projects from said housing, first resilient means engaging said levers and tending to retain them in opposed positions, and second resilient means weaker than said first resilient means engaging one of said levers and the housing and biasing said lever toward the position in which it projects from said housing. 7

5. A latch comprising a housing having an open side, a pair of levers, a pivot within said housing, each of said levers being of substantially quarter-cylindrical form, being independently pivotally mounted on said pivot about its cylinder axis and being alternately capable of taking up a position in which one is substantially contained within said housing and the other is capable of taking up an opposed position in which it projects from said housing, first resilient means comprising a helical spring disposed around a part of said pivot, spaced parts of said spring engaging said levers and tending to retain them in opposed positions, and second resilient means comprising a leaf spring having two arms normally substantially at right angles to one another, one arm engaging the housing and the other arm engaging one of said levers, said leaf spring biasing said lever toward the position in which it projects from the housing.

6. A latch comprising a housing having an open side, a pair of levers, a pivot within said housing, each of said levers being of quarter-spherical form, being bounded by two semi-circles meeting at a common diameter and being normal to one another and a part spherical surface, each lever being independently pivotally mounted on said pivot about this common diameter and being alternately capable of taking up a position in which one is substantially contained within said housing and the other is capable of taking up an opposed position in which it projects from said housing, first resilient means comprising a helical spring disposed around a part of said pivot, spaced parts of said spring engagingsaid levers and tending to retain them in opposed positions, and second resilient means comprising a leaf spring having two arms normally substantially at right angles to one another, one arm engaging the housing and the other arm engaging one of said levers, said leaf spring biasing said lever toward the position in which it projects from the housing.

No references cited. 

